Utah Family April ‘07

LIONS CLUBS RECOGNIZE FAMILIES AS KEY TO VOLUNTEERISM

Utah Lions clubs, along with Lions Clubs International, have adopted a new endeavor to encourage families to work together to help create a better community for themselves and their neighbors, and to promote sight preservation.

Just as an individual can be more effective working with others, families can accomplish much more when working with others as compared with working alone.

This is also a way of showing children the importance and value of volunteering and helping others.

Lions clubs offer a number of community service projects that families, as well as individuals, can work on to help others and to improve their community. People can join other families in a Lions club to help make a difference in their community.

Helping people with vision problems is the major focus of Lions clubs. Although 50 percent of all vision loss is preventable or treatable, almost 47,000 Americans lose their sight each year. Many of these individuals do not have access to affordable eye care.

Realizing these needs, Utah Lions clubs conduct many projects throughout the year to identify eyesight problems and help correct them. They do vision-screening for both the young and old as well as work with the Moran Eye Center, The Utah Foundation for the Blind, the Special Olympics and the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind.

The Utah Lions Foundation, through its 85 Utah Lions clubs, established the Utah Lions Eye Bank over 25 years ago and continues to work with them it conducting cornea transplants and promoting eye, organ and tissue donation. Lion members also work as couriers to deliver the needed corneas and eye tissue to the destinations.

While vision is a primary, ongoing focus, Lions clubs and members provide leadership in many other local needs and projects. Some examples include community recreational facilities and programs especially targeted for youth and seniors.

Anyone wishing more information may call Bill Barton at (801) 978-3363.